Abstract

An electromagnetic device for modifying any of the growth, repair or maintenance processes in a predetermined local area of a living body by utilizing a signal having a symmetric waveform to excite a coil and thereby induce a magnetic field and at the same time manually or mechanically manipulating the coil so as to cause time variations in the spatial-orientation of the induced magnetic field with respect to the local area.

Claims

An electromagnetic device for modifying any of the growth, repair or maintenance processes in a predetermined local area of a living body comprising:

a coil capable of inducing a magnetic field wherein the magnetic field has a time-varying spatial-configuration and a time-constant spatial-orientation with respect to said coil;

means for generating an electrical signal capable of exciting said coil so as to induce a magnetic field having a time-varying spatial-configuration, wherein said signal has a substantially-symmetric waveform with a frequency below about 100 Hertz; and

wherein, when said device is in use, said coil is adapted such that the spatial-orientation of said magnetic field with respect to said local area is capable of being varied in time, thereby causing time variations in said magnetic field at any given location in said local area which are of about the same range of magnitude as time variations in the magnetic field at said any given location caused by the time variations in the spatial-configuration of said magnetic field.

A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said signal is a pulsed signal.

A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said signal is a half-wave-rectified sine wave.

A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said signal has a waveform with a non-zero differential with respect to time.

A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said signal has a waveform with symmetric discontinuities.

A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said coil surrounds a magnetic core.

A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said coil surrounds the middle finger of a core having an "E" shape.

A device as claimed in claim 7 comprising a treatment head wherein said treatment head comprises said coil and is capable of easy movement in a region over said local area.

A device as claimed in claim 8 wherein said treatment head is capable of easy manual manipulation.

A device as claimed in claim 9 wherein said treatment head is adapted to be gripped by a human hand in order to aid in easy manual manipulation.

A method of using a device as claimed in claim 9 comprising translating said coil in a region over said local area.

A method of using a device as claimed in claim 10 comprising translating said coil in a region over said local area.

A method of using a device as claimed in claim 9 comprising rotating said coil in the region of said local area.

A method of using a device as claimed in claim 10 comprising rotating said coil in the region of said local area.

A method of using a device as claimed in claim 9, wherein said device is in a negative mode.

A method of using a device as claimed in claim 10 wherein said device is in a negative mode.

A method of using a device as claimed in claim 9 wherein said device is in a positive mode.

A method of using a device as claimed in claim 10 wherein said device is in a positive mode.